Internal-combustion engine.



C. E. RICE.

INTERNALCOMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I8, 1913.

Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

I I'mloq.

w s. M G Q e Q Q QN/ G u Q d .mw mw ww mw *WQ NQ mw N. I m I I I Iwilll/III. e N w i IMI n I .3 .m lll l ,0, 0 G Q e I mw A I I m Q I n .Q.w Q Q w il i r II IIII w r III w I :Q f :Q 11m bx 0, N n I G Q M o o fN F Q WT/VESSES C.,E. RICE.

INTERNAL coMus'noN ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I8, I9I3.

Patented Feb. l1, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mmm@

WIM/8858 INI/ENTOR /gyp CHM/.5 5.19/05 a/l/:M/ AM/FAA... BI

ATTORNEYS s l Luolo. Y,

Y ,INTEVNAL-coMBUsTIoNf ENGINE.

Spcification of Letters Patent. v

' Patented 11i-@bf i, 191e,

"ff Ar-plicatibn aieasuneia'iais. sferiammra'sas.

To all wtom'ztv'may concern: .l

Be itknown that I, CHARLES citizen, ofthe United States, anda resident lof Round `MountaimfNye county, State of Nevada, have` invented a new,useful and Improved Internal-Combustion Engine, of

i which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying,drawing, is a specifv ication. n

My invention relates to internal combustion engines, especially such asare of the two-cycle, double-acting type, and has for ,its object to.produce an engine kof great power ,forits'weightfand one which shall besimple inconstruction and'positiveY and economical in operation.

Generally speaking, the engine of'my linvention comprises a powercylinder the Vpiston of which is impelledbyl the explosive force of vasuitable fuel mixture, the energy of said piston being in part utilizedto compress and force a-later explosive charge into a compressionchamber; such compression 1s accomphshed by means of a compression'cylinder and piston, the latter being suitably connected mechanicallywith the power piston. The ignition'of the compressed charge may becaused by any suitable device,'as for instance bya spark plug suitablyconnected with a source of electric energy, and may take place either inthe lcompression chamber or in the power cylinder. A compression chamberis arranged near each end of the power cylinder and each of saidchambers is suitably connected by valved passages with one end of thepower cylinder and also with one end ofthe compression cylinder. Thepower cylinder is provided at each end with valved exhaust ports and thecompression cylinder is provided at each end with valved ports which areconnected with the carbureter mechanism and which serve to admit gaseousfuel mixtures to the compres'v mately von the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, andFig.

3 is a diagrammatic .end elevation, showing particularlyl the locationof the cylinders and valve lchambers and their connecting E. Rrcnau. i

passages.

The'en 'ne shown comprises-two power l cylinders lndicat'ed bythecharacters 1 and `2 and one compression cylinder intermediate of thepower cylinders vand. indicated by the character 3.v them are providedwith water jacketsif deslred and are secured in any suitable manner tothe engine frame 4:. The pistons 5, 6 land 7 operate within thecylinders 1, 2 and 3 respectively and their piston rods 5, 6 and 7 *areVeach ,operativelyA vconnected with the crank shaft 8throughithe mediumof ,crossheads- 9, slidable on guides 9,and` connectmg rods 9coperatingwith cranks 8 on the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig.

is such that, when piston 6 is at the forward end of itsstroke, its.crank shaft lbeing on dead center, piston 5 is advancing forwardly andis slightly beyond the middle of its stroke, while the compressionpiston 7 is moving rearwardly, having shortly begun such movement.

- vArranged above the cylinders and at the ends thereof are the variousvalve chambers which are provided with valves and connected with thevarious cylinders in the manner now to be pointed out. The valvechambers are equipped with screw plugs or caps having wrench-engagingprojections, by the turning of which the chambers may be individuallyvaried in capacity. The exhaust valves 10 and 10 are operable in theexhaust chambers at. the ends of power cylinder 1 and serve to close andopen communication between said chambers and the atmosphere through theexhaust ports 11 and 11 respectively, the chambers being at all times incommunication each with one end of the cylinder 1 through the passages1l". The exhaust valves 12 and 12 serve to close or open communicationbetween the exhaust chambers, and the atmosphere through the Thesecylinders or some ofv thecrank shaft 8. The rotation being in exhaustports 13 and 13 respectively, the

exhaust chambers being in communication with the ends of the cylinder 2through'the passages 13". v

The fuel inlet pipe 14 leads from the car- 15 and 15 operate to closeand open communication between said chambers and `bureter mechanism Vtothe fuel inlet valve munication through the passages 17 between saidchambers and the ends of the" cylinder 1. Similarly, inlet valves 18 and18 control communication through passages 18 between the ends ofcompression chamber 3 and the compression chambers B and C for thecylinder 2, and outlet valves 19 and 19 control communication throughthe passages 19" between said chambers and the ends of cylinder 2. Allof the valves are operated by cams suitably arranged on the cam shaft 20driven from the crank shaft'8 by means of bevel gears on said shaftscoperating with bevel gears on the connecting shaft 21 in such mannerthat the cam shaft and the crank shaft rotate at the same speed. Thevalve stems are guided near their ends within guide yokes 22 and areprovided at their ends withrollers 23 which engagey with the cams andwhich are adjustably positioned by means of the adjusting nuts 23.Springs 24 serve to hold the valves in closed position until the camscome into contact with the rollers 23 and move the valves against theforce of the springs 24 into open position.` Ignition spark/ plugs 25are provided forv each ignition chamber and are suitably connectedthrough the timing switch mechanism 26 operated by the cam shaft with asource of high potential. A rotary pump 27 driven by the cam shaft isprovided for circulating a cooling fluid. through the cylinder coolingjackets. A pump 28 also driven from the cam shaft serves to furnish'lubricant to the cylinders and other working parts desired.

In the operation of the engine, a charge of explosive mixture is drawnthrough the conduit 14 and one of the passages 15 into the compressioncylinder 3 on the suction side of its piston 7, the proper fuel inletvalve, say 15, being open. On the forward stroke of this piston, thecharge is compressed and forced in part through the forward passage 18into the forward compression chamber B, the chamber inlet valve 18 beingopen for this purpose, and in part, said valve closing when the pistonhas traversed about half of its stroke and valve 16 opening, through theforward passage 16 into the forward compression chamber A. 'When thecompression piston has finished its stroke, both valves 16 and 18 are inclosed position, and on its backward stroke a new charge is drawn in andthe charge drawn into the rearward end of the compression cylinderduring the previous forward stroke of its piston is compressed andforced in equal amounts and under equal compression into the tworearward compression chambers C and D. The valve 15 opens as thecompression piston moves away from its position at the forward end ofits stroke and closesas the piston reaches the rearward end of itsstroke, and the valve 15 opens as the piston moves away from itsrearward position and closes as it reaches its forward position. Valve15 opens, therefore, when valve 15 closes and valve 15 opens when valve15 closes. Valves 16, 16, 18 and 18 obviously should not open untilvalves 17,'17, 19 and 19 respectively have closed. l

The power pistons 5.and 6 are forced both forwardly and rearwardly bythe explosive force of the fuel. For each revolution of the crank shafttherefore there-are two explosions for each cylinder; these explosionstake place alternately first on one side of the piston and then on theopposite side of the piston. Whenv one of thesepistons, for example,piston 6 is being impelled forwardly .by the burning of the char ecompressed in chamber C, it clearsthe orward end of cylinder 2 0fcombustion products by forcing them through exhaust port 13, the'exhaust valve 12 being open andthe inlet valve 19 being closed. Whenthe piston has almost reached the end of its forward stroke, the crankbeing about l30 degrees from dead center, the rear exhaust valve 12opens and the forward inlet valve 19 begins to open.

The compressed charge escapes from chamber B through the forward passage19" into the cylinder and drives out the small amount of dead gasestherein through the exhaust port 13. The exhaust valve 12 immediatelycloses after this purging operation so that no live gases can escape andat approximately the same time, the valve 19 opening rapidly, ignitiontakes placeand at the time the piston reaches the end of its stroke theexpand.-

ing gases are exerting full power to drive a the piston on its rearwardstroke, the valve A19 remaining open until the piston nears the rearwardend of its stroke. The valve 12may, of course. be closed if desiredbefore the opening of the valve 19, the purging effect being eliminated,and the rear valve 12 may be operated at a time different from thatdescribed. Near the end of the rearward stroke of piston 6 a similaroperation takes place, the operation of valves 12, 12 and 19corresponding with the operation respectively of the Valves 12 12 and 19previously described. The power piston 5 operates in like manner as thepower piston 6, the operation of valves 10', 10 and 17 being similar tothat respectively of` valves 12', 12 and 19 when piston 5 is near theforward end of its stroke, and the operation of valves 10,

`10 and 17 being similar to that respectively In the drawings'thecompression pistoni i is shown' just after it has begun to move on itsrearward stroke,at which time the power piston 6 is at the. end ofits'forward stroke and the power piston -5 is on its :forward gas.

stroke being vimpelled by the burnin from compression chamber D. The vave 19 isfopen, the valve 12 is openingand the piston 5 reaches apoint-near the forward 'valve'. 18 is closed, the compressed charge ofthechamber B has just been ignited bythe spark'plug of this chamber anthe piston 6 is about to-be forced rearwardly. When the ignition willoccur and thev expanding gases will drive the piston on its rear stroke;and when the piston 6 reaches a position near the rearward end of itsstroke, valves 12 and 19l will open, valve 12 will close, ignition willoccur and the expanding gases will V Y said chamber, valved `passagesdirectlycondrive the piston on its forward stroke.

The various pistons and cylinders of thel engine shown are ofthe samesize except that the compression piston is slightly longer than thepower pistons. While there is maintained the' usual clearance betweenthe power pistons and their cylinder heads, there is substantially nosuch clearance inv the case of the compression cylinder and piston. As aconsequence, all of .the compressed fuel is driven from the compressioncylinder into the compression chambers at each stroke and there is noloss of power such as would occur if a portion of such compressed fuelwere retained in the cylinder. An increase of diameter of thecompression ele'- ments would, as will readily be understood,

Vproduce an increased compression and increased power. The degree ofcompression may also be varied, as is obvious, by a manipulation of thescrew caps forming the ends of thecompression chambers. The arrangementis such that the fuel mixture is equally divided between the two forwardcompression chambers on the forward compression stroke and between thetwo .rearward compression chambers on the rearward compression stroke;equal impulsesr are therefore given to the two power cylinders, theimpulses for piston 5 following about a quarter revolution after thecorresponding impulses for piston 6; there is no possibility of a deadcenter position for both power cranks. IThe four impulses for eachrevolution, two foreach piston make the engine of substantially the samepower as an eight cylinder engine of the single acting four-cycle type.It is obvious that an engine of one power cylinder or of more than twopower cylinders may also be constructed in accordance with my inventionby any person skilled in the art. It will be understood, furthermore,thatthe constructionherein shown vand described may befal- "tered invarious ways without departing prising a.U power cylinder and 'a piston,vmeans for compressing an explosive fuel charge, a compression chamberconnected therewith for receiving said compressed charge, manuallyadjustable means for varying the capacity of said chamber, means foradmitting said compressed charge from said compression'chamber directlyto said cylinder and means in said compression chamber for igniting saidcharge.

2. An' internal combustion engine comprising a power cylinder andpiston, a compression cylinder and piston, said compression piston beingdriven by said power pist0n, a compression chamber, manually adjustablemeans for varying the `capacity of nesting said chamber with saidcylinders, means for suitably operatin said valves and' ignition means1n sai compression chamber, operablewhen the chamber is in communicationwith said power cylinder.

An internal combustion engine comprising a'power cylinder and piston, acompression cylinder and piston, said compression piston being driven bysaid' power piston, a forward compression chamber, valved passagesdirectly connecting said chamber with the forward ends of saidcylinders, a rearward compression chamber, valved passages directlyconnecting said -rearward A chamber with the rearward ends of saidcylinders, manually adjustable means for varying the capacity of each ofsaid chambers, valved exhaust orts connecting each end of said power cyinder with the atmosphere, means for suitably operatin said valves, andignition means in sai compression chambers, operable when the chambersare 1n communication with the respective ends of said power cylinder.

4. An internal combustion engine comprising a power cylinder and piston,valved exhaust ports connecting each end of said I power cylinder withthe atmosphere, compression chambers each in direct communication withone end of said cylinder through valved passages, manually adjustablemeans for varying the capacity of each of said chambers, means forcompressing fuel charges alternately in said chambers, means forsuitably operating said valves and means for' igniting said chargesalternately in the chambers at opposite ends of said cylinder when incommunication with the latter.

5. An internal combustion engine comprising aplurality of powercylinders each provided with valved exhaust ports at the ends thereof, acompression cylinder provided with valved fuel admission ports at theends thereof, pistons in said cylinders, the compression piston beingdriven by a power piston, a plurality of forward comression chambers,valved passages connectingeach of said chambers with the forward end of-said compression cylinder and with the forward endr of one of' saidpower cylinders, a plurality of rearward compression chambers, valvedpassages connecting each of said rearward chambers with the rearward endof said compression cylinder and with the rearward end of one of saidpower cylinders, means for suitably operating said 15.

valves, and ignition means in saidcompression chambers.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing

